Is a floating nuclear power plant a good idea?
Russia is building the world’s first floating nuclear power plant. The Times of London reported the $200 million (£100 million) vessel, the Lomonosov, is the first of seven plants Moscow said would bring vital energy resources to remote Russian regions as well as potential foreign markets. It will house two 35-megawatt reactors capable of supplying a city of 200,000 people when it starts operations, in three years’ time. Environmental groups and nuclear experts fear floating plants will be more vulnerable to accidents and terrorism than land-based stations. The first vessel will sail to a bay off the northern White Sea port of Severodvinsk in 2010 to supply electricity to nearby defense facilities. The Atomic Energy Agency said at least 12 countries were also interested in buying floating nuclear plants. China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Algeria, and Argentina are all potential buyers. Russian President Vladimir Putin backs the floating plants as part of a program to raise the proportion of
